Meaning & use
mismanage
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Meaning
verbtransitive
To control or organize something badly, often wasting money, time, or effort.
Grammar: Takes an object, often an abstract noun: mismanage a project, mismanage funds.
Patterns
- mismanage something
- be mismanaged by someone
The company mismanaged its finances and went bankrupt.
She was accused of mismanaging the department's budget.
The project was badly mismanaged from the start.
Word forms
| third person singular | mismanages |
|---|---|
| past tense | mismanaged |
| past participle | mismanaged |
| -ing form | mismanaging |
Common combinations
- mismanage funds
- The charity was accused of mismanaging funds.
- mismanage a project
- They mismanaged the project and missed every deadline.
- badly mismanaged
- The whole operation was badly mismanaged.
- mismanage resources
- The government mismanaged natural resources for years.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mishandle
- Mishandle often refers to dealing with a situation or object clumsily, while mismanage is more about running an organization or system poorly.
- bungle
- Bungle suggests a single clumsy mistake, whereas mismanage suggests ongoing bad management.
Opposites
Word family
- mismanagement noun
- The act of managing something badly.
- mismanager noun
- A person who manages something poorly.
Commonly confused: mismanage or mismanage?
mismanage vs mismanage
Mismanage is not a standard English word; the correct form is mismanage.
Practice
Choose the correct word: The team ______ the budget so badly that the event was cancelled.
Choose one answer.
The sentence is about a completed past action, so the past tense mismanaged is correct. 'Mismanaging' would need a helping verb, and 'mismanages' is present tense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “mismanage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.